McLaren boss Zak Brown has suggested that the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team could be guilty of a “massive breach” of the FIA regulations if it is found to have changed the ride height of its cars under parc ferme conditions.
The Milton Keynes team had admitted that it has a device in the cockpit that can be used by mechanics to adjust ride height, but the team insists that it hasn’t been used, and wouldn’t work when the car is fully built.
The FIA intends to put a seal on it as a short term measure, while the team has agreed to modify the car. However McLaren and other teams still have questions.
“Typically, being able to run a car lower is a competitive advantage that makes the car quicker most of the time,” said Brown. “The FIA I think have done a very good job of identifying an element on a single race team.
“From what we can see from having looked at all the open source components, it’s the only team that has the ability to adjust the ride height from inside the cockpit.
“Whether they have or haven’t, I have no idea, but having the ability to do it raises questions. It’s very clear in the regulations, and it’s a material breach, that if you modify your race car, anything that you didn’t get permission on or driver comfort goes very much against regulations.
“So they’ve decided, from what I’ve read, to put a seal on it. And at the same time, we’ve heard from the team that you can’t adjust it when the car is fully race prepped. The car’s not always fully race prepped, in parc ferme on Sunday morning.
“So I think that needs to be unpicked. Why do you need to put a seal on something that you can’t get to in parc ferme or post part ferme a conditions. I still have questions that I need to better understand.”
Brown added: “If, and I say if, because I don’t know, it’s used in an inappropriate manner, then it is definitely a performance advantage.
“If it’s not, then there’s no performance advantage whatsoever. And I think that’s what we just want to better understand.”
Asked how serious the issue could be if the device was used under parc ferme conditions he said: “I think if you breach the parc ferme rules, that’s a massive breach. And so there should be consequences if that has happened, and that would be ultimately up to the FIA. We’ve seen it in sport before. We’ve seen in our sport, we’ve seen in baseball, we’ve seen in football.
“These things do happen, so we just put our trust in the FIA to address the issue. Moving forward, we’re just asking questions, but it’s up to the FIA, as our regulator, they do a great job to get on top of it and come up with a solution that is transparent and it’s satisfactory to all the teams. I think I’m not alone in our concerns for what we’re have seen and heard.”
Brown stressed that his main concern was how long RBR has had the device on its cars, thus potentially the ability to use it.
“I’ve got confidence that the FIA will resolve the issue,” he said. “I understand they’re having to modify and change their racing car for upcoming races.
“I’m not exactly sure when, so I’m confident in the FIA’s ability to address it moving forward, and our questions are a bit more around what has, maybe historically happened and understanding if it’s been used in an inappropriate manner.”
He added: “As long as the device has had the ability to be adjusted from inside the cockpit, I think is probably what needs to be reviewed.”
